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Saturday, 22 August 2015

I wrote it, so I might as well post it: the Sandsculptor class

Over on RPGnet, Derek Holland was asking if there was a 'sandsculptor' class in any version of D&D, so I wrote one. Then it occurred to me that, having gone to the trouble of writing the damn thing, I might as well put it up here, as well. I've written them for generic B/X, rather than the slightly modified version of it I use in my own game, and I'm not sure if they exist in ATWC or not, as magic there tends to be a bit more low-key; but who knows? Maybe, somewhere deep in the deserts of the south, you can find these guys hanging out and building really, really epic sandcastles...

B/X Sandsculptor:

To-hit, saves, advancement, hit dice: as
magic user. Can use weapons and armour appropriate to a desert-dwelling
culture.

You
are accompanied everywhere by a small personal sand-cloud; normally this just hovers in the air around you,
although you can also make it get out of the way if it's cramping your
style. (Sending it to hover 10' above your head, for example.) At will,
you can make it swirl around you at high speed, granting you +2 AC (+4 AC
vs missiles). You can see through your own sandcloud just fine.

You
can telekinetically sculpt
sand within 10' per level. For as long as you concentrate, up to
1 cubic foot of sand per level per round can be sculpted into any shape
you desire. (It's still no stronger than regular sand, though.) At level
5, you can super-compress sand to be as hard as wood, allowing you to
create bridges, barriers, etc. as long as there's enough sand around for
you to work with. At level 8, you can hyper-compress it to be as hard as
stone.

Once
per day per level, you can fire hurtling, needle-sharp sandblasts at people; these
work the same as a magic missile cast by a magic-user of your level.

At
level 2, you can turn part of your sandcloud into a sandbeast once per day. This
looks like any monster you feel like, made of sand: it has the hit points
and to-hit of a monster with hit dice equal to your level, and inflicts
1d8 damage per hit. It can remain for 5 rounds plus one round per level
before collapsing back into sand. At level 11, the sandbeast becomes a
permanent companion; if it dies, you can just reshape it out of sand by
concentrating for ten minutes.

At
level 3, you can shape part of your sandcloud into a sandblade, sharp as glass and hard
as steel. It counts as a sword +1, with the bonus rising by 1 every 3
levels to a maximum of +5 at level 15. No-one else can wield it.

At
level 4, you can shape your sandcloud into a 10' square wall of sand, a spinning barrier
as hard as stone. Maintaining it requires your complete concentration,
however, and you cannot move or take any other actions without allowing it
to collapse. At level 14, you can maintain two such walls simultaneously.

At
level 7, you can turn your sandcloud into a spinning whirlwind, capable of carrying you
aloft at heights of up to (level x2) feet at a speed equal to your
sprinting speed. At level 10, your whirlwind can carry one additional
passenger, and go as fast as a horse; at level 13, it can go as fast as a
horse at full gallop, and can carry two additional passengers. Anything
standing directly below you (i.e. in the 'funnel' of your whirlwind) must
save vs. spell or be blinded for 1d6 rounds.

I really love the idea of this class. Did it ever get any playtesting? I feel like it's HD and combat abilities are too low for such a focused/limited class. Sandblade makes you want to mix it up in combat, but with d4 HD and no real combat skills you are way better at staying back.

If it were me, I'd give it d6 HD, maybe fight as a cleric. Xp would be as Dwarf...maybe, possibly just fighter. Alternatively, let them fight like fighters, hd d6 and then let them cost 2500 to reach level 2.